Several methods have been proposed to associate a sound recording or record from a still camera with an image captured by the still camera. U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,029 discloses a camera having means to record sound associated with a captured image, to store the sound, play back the sound and record a digital representation of the sound onto either a separate data storage means or onto an instant print. The cited patent uses a removable memory element, a magnetic strip, to store the sound data. No means is disclosed to associate the sound recording with a given print in the case of a non-instant prints.
One solution to associating a sound record with a given print is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,700. Data identification of a specific frame on the film is written optically onto the captured image. When a print is made from the negative image on the film strip, a visible code appears on the image. A visible code degrades the quality of the print image. A memory chip is removed from the camera and transferred to a storage unit. A print is placed in the storage unit, and the imprinted code is read, and the corresponding sound recording is played back. An alternative embodiment in that patent takes the information on the storage chip and records it onto a magnetic storage medium that is attached to the front or back of the print. The sound recording must be put onto a physical media, in this case a semiconductor memory chip, to transfer sound records to the storage unit.
Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,472 describes a sound capturing camera that writes a sound record onto a transparent magnetic coating on the film. This patent discloses transferring the sound record to the back of a print with an ink jet printer or thermally formed blisters or writing the sound record as a barcode on the an area adjacent to an image on the front of the print. The barcode on the front of the print can also carry a specific frame number. A hand held device is used on the print to read the sound record from the print and play back the sound record. This system requires writing the entire sound record on the print and in one case, proposes an unsightly pattern having bearing the sound record printed adjacent to the image on the print.
Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,752 discloses a method of transferring camera captured sound images through a photofinishing process to attach storage means containing the sound clips to printed images. This patent requires an elaborate process of transferring the sound clips through a photofinishing process to have a sound record attached to prints or index prints.